I think you expected these records to be easy to sell, and don’t really have a plan for what to do with the piles of records that were put on ebay that nobody bid on. Your pride tells you to throw them away, your greed tells you to sell them, and you don’t have a common sense that tells you to sell them at the prices people are willing to pay for them. 100 copies is a small edition, but lots of bands struggle to sell 100 copies these days, even without making people jump through a lot of hoops to buy their records. I was against this business model since day one, so I’m happy you failed - not that I think you feel you’ve failed, of course.

I think you expected these records to be easy to sell, and don’t really have a plan for what to do with the piles of records that were put on ebay that nobody bid on. Your pride tells you to throw them away, your greed tells you to sell them, and you don’t have a common sense that tells you to sell them at the prices people are willing to pay for them. 100 copies is a small edition, but lots of bands struggle to sell 100 copies these days, even without making people jump through a lot of hoops to buy their records. I was against this business model since day one, so I’m happy you failed - not that I think you feel you’ve failed, of course.

My business model could not be more successful at what it is intended to do. Provide great unknown collectable minimal synth releases to serious minimal synth collectors. Very simple. I’m sorry you are not a serious minimal synth collector, but that seems to be the case. If you think I have failed then you can check out my ebay feedback by everyone that has purchased an obscure identities record. Anyway, there will be many more releases to come on obscure identities for minimal synth collectors to enjoy.

I think you expected these records to be easy to sell, and don’t really have a plan for what to do with the piles of records that were put on ebay that nobody bid on. Your pride tells you to throw them away, your greed tells you to sell them, and you don’t have a common sense that tells you to sell them at the prices people are willing to pay for them. 100 copies is a small edition, but lots of bands struggle to sell 100 copies these days, even without making people jump through a lot of hoops to buy their records. I was against this business model since day one, so I’m happy you failed - not that I think you feel you’ve failed, of course.

My business model could not be more successful at what it is intended to do. Provide great unknown collectable minimal synth releases to serious minimal synth collectors. Very simple. I’m sorry you are not a serious minimal synth collector, but that seems to be the case. If you think I have failed then you can check out my ebay feedback by everyone that has purchased an obscure identities record. Anyway, there will be many more releases to come on obscure identities for minimal synth collectors to enjoy.

Stephen

obscure identities

Don’t be silly. I realize that’s like asking a zebra not to be striped, but what if I would succeed; what an interesting zebra we would have!

I am criticizing your business model. Do you understand?

You have put out a lot of records, fine, but they have for the most part failed to sell, and I am happy about that. I have reasons for being happy, and I shall proceed to make them clear. It’ll be really interesting to hear what you make of it!

You can release records if you want, I have no problem with that, as long as it’s cleared with the bands, but I do have a problem with the way the records are sold. I think pop music should be a popular medium, and records should be available at affordable prices. They’re made out of cheap materials, plastic and cardboard, after all.

You’re only selling one copy per week, and only on ebay. I’m against that; I think it’s a rip-off, and unhealthy for the collector’s market, it would be better for the listeners, the collectors, the bands and the market if you sold them as fast as people want to buy, through the usual channels. Turns out, the auctions generally attract zero bids.

And, happily, this model has failed; the records mostly have gone unsold. People don’t want to participate in the auction. That’s not going to make any impression whatsoever on you, but if you had succeeded, then most probably, someone would have copied you, and ebay would have been filled with artificial rarities. I don’t want that.

True collectors don’t like artificial rarities; ask any stamp collector, they’d much rather have stamps that actually have been sold at post offices and used for mail. Just like you, the postal services create a lot of artificial rarities for the collector’s market, but they’re not really all that attractive to collectors.

But the Obscure Identities records still don’t sell, do they? Week after week, zero bids. Read your own ebay history.

I’m not the only one who wants the Obscure Identities label to sell its records through normal retail channels and stop making artificial shortages; you’re just being a nuisance, making your records so hard to get. Records aren’t really collectors items until after they have sold out; your records are rare because you refuse to sell more than one copy per week. You’re just being difficult. That’s why they are fake rarities, artificial collectors items. I hate that, that’s not hard to understand.

What’s the reason I’m the only one who is still trying to reason with you? Well, you always say anyone who disagrees with you is a “hater” and “has issues” and on and on it goes ... you’ve called people insane, stupid, greedy, any bad thing you can think of, completely at random, without stop. I can imagine people who take you more seriously than I do, find it pretty unpleasant after a while.

But please listen now: Don’t fill your apartment with unsellable and unsold records. Please stop the ebay scam, just sell the records, like a normal label.

dear mister number one minimal synth collector in the galaxy, i see you just cant get enough praising yourself and your wonderful label so lemme put a blot on the landscape… you once wrote that your super valuable and highly collectable records look _exactly_ like they were made in 1980. i’m too lazy to search the forum and quote your posting but i certainly remember you did it. so.. it probably would disappoint you but arial font didn’t exist in 1980! wouldn’t you like to lower starting prices a bit because of that, would you?

But the Obscure Identities records still don’t sell, do they? Week after week, zero bids. Read your own ebay history.

I’m not the only one who wants the Obscure Identities label to sell its records through normal retail channels and stop making artificial shortages; you’re just being a nuisance, making your records so hard to get. Records aren’t really collectors items until after they have sold out; your records are rare because you refuse to sell more than one copy per week. You’re just being difficult. That’s why they are fake rarities, artificial collectors items. I hate that, that’s not hard to understand.

What’s the reason I’m the only one who is still trying to reason with you? Well, you always say anyone who disagrees with you is a “hater” and “has issues” and on and on it goes ... you’ve called people insane, stupid, greedy, any bad thing you can think of, completely at random, without stop. I can imagine people who take you more seriously than I do, find it pretty unpleasant after a while.

But please listen now: Don’t fill your apartment with unsellable and unsold records. Please stop the ebay scam, just sell the records, like a normal label.

I’m sorry for your hate. Good luck with it and see where it gets you.
After I release the 100th record on my label in the same exact way that I have done
from the beginning I will look forward to another one of your belligerent rants of scorn about how
my label has failed. You simply have no clue what is going on. Absolutely none, but
it is nice to see that someone who hates my label spends all their time thinking about
it, and watching my auctions.

dear mister number one minimal synth collector in the galaxy, i see you just cant get enough praising yourself and your wonderful label so lemme put a blot on the landscape… you once wrote that your super valuable and highly collectable records look _exactly_ like they were made in 1980. i’m too lazy to search the forum and quote your posting but i certainly remember you did it. so.. it probably would disappoint you but arial font didn’t exist in 1980! wouldn’t you like to lower starting prices a bit because of that, would you?

But the Obscure Identities records still don’t sell, do they? Week after week, zero bids. Read your own ebay history.

I’m not the only one who wants the Obscure Identities label to sell its records through normal retail channels and stop making artificial shortages; you’re just being a nuisance, making your records so hard to get. Records aren’t really collectors items until after they have sold out; your records are rare because you refuse to sell more than one copy per week. You’re just being difficult. That’s why they are fake rarities, artificial collectors items. I hate that, that’s not hard to understand.

What’s the reason I’m the only one who is still trying to reason with you? Well, you always say anyone who disagrees with you is a “hater” and “has issues” and on and on it goes ... you’ve called people insane, stupid, greedy, any bad thing you can think of, completely at random, without stop. I can imagine people who take you more seriously than I do, find it pretty unpleasant after a while.

But please listen now: Don’t fill your apartment with unsellable and unsold records. Please stop the ebay scam, just sell the records, like a normal label.

I’m sorry for your hate. Good luck with it and see where it gets you.
After I release the 100th record on my label in the same exact way that I have done
from the beginning I will look forward to another one of your belligerent rants of scorn about how
my label has failed. You simply have no clue what is going on. Absolutely none, but
it is nice to see that someone who hates my label spends all their time thinking about
it, and watching my auctions.

Enjoy,

Stephen
obscure identities

Hater this, hater that. That’s silly talk. Don’t you feel silly, posting fantasies about the possible motivations of people you have never met? I think I’ve made my motivations quite clear: I want you to stop the ebay circus and sell your records like normal people; I think your artificial collectors items are damaging the collectors’ market. It’s silly to call me a “hater”; I don’t hate every reissue label there is, if you read slowly and carefully, you will notice, I don’t even have anything in particular against your label. As I said: “You can release records if you want, I have no problem with that, as long as itís cleared with the bands, but I do have a problem with the way the records are sold.”

This, if you think about it, means that I have nothing against your label, but I criticize the way the records are being sold. Is that hate? Hate is a strong word; I’d say I was “critical” or “negative”, but then - well, there is NOTHING good about your ebay activities; you make the records needlessly hard to get and try to turn ordinary reissues into instant rarities; I don’t admit that I hate your label, but on the other hand, it can’t be morally wrong to hate a label that operates like this!

Thing is, I’ve seen you attempt to participate in the discussion, and I don’t think you’re doing it very well most of the time. Drop the invective and try to understand what people say to you, that would be a good start.

I don’t think your label has failed, but please drop the ebay scam, just set up a webstore and sell the records normally. It is true that the auctions pretty much concistently attract zero bids, so why go on?

So what you are saying is you have a problem with the way I am selling records on my label, and you want me to stop?

That is good. It is good to want things.

Also, just so you know the way I am selling the records on my label could not be more honest, and accessible to collectors.

All the collectors are on ebay every week, and every collector has an opportunity to purchase every copy of every record I put out. No other label provides that much accessibility. In case you didn’t know ebay is a billion dollar corporation not a scam. If you want ebay to stop maybe you should come up with a few billion dollars and buy the majority of shares. However, I don’t think there are a few billion dollars in Iceland so you might have to relocate.

Enjoy this weeks auctions everyone, and be sure to listen to the samples of the 2nd All the Madmen LP.
It includes the studio versions of almost all the tracks that were on the 1st LP.

Also, just so you know the way I am selling the records on my label could not be more honest, and accessible to collectors.

All the collectors are on ebay every week, and every collector has an opportunity to purchase every copy of every record I put out. No other label provides that much accessibility. In case you didn’t know ebay is a billion dollar corporation not a scam. If you want ebay to stop maybe you should come up with a few billion dollars and buy the majority of shares. However, I don’t think there are a few billion dollars in Iceland so you might have to relocate.

Enjoy this weeks auctions everyone, and be sure to listen to the samples of the 2nd All the Madmen LP.
It includes the studio versions of almost all the tracks that were on the 1st LP.

Stephen
obscure identities

Stephen,
You’re a veteran ebayer and I’m sure you remember that eBay can be used in several different ways… Strictly theoretically speaking, it would have been possible for you to put records up with a Buy it now button, allowing people to access the OI releases more often than once a week, for instance. Also, some people have made comments on the price tag, which is high compared to what other recent vinyl LPs or singles sell for.

Some other labels trade with each other, and have their own shops online. For someone in my neck of the woods, this ‘busines model’ (sic) has its benefits: I can buy a lot of records at once, saving postage. I can buy the records when I have time, without having to stay up late and follow an auction. I find the records at fixed prices and don’t have to put in an offer and risk being overbid.

There’s nothing in this to say you can’t do business in whichever way you choose, I just wanted to clarify what I felt were misunderstandings. Peace out.

You’re a veteran ebayer and I’m sure you remember that eBay can be used in several different ways… Strictly theoretically speaking, it would have been possible for you to put records up with a Buy it now button, allowing people to access the OI releases more often than once a week, for instance. Also, some people have made comments on the price tag, which is high compared to what other recent vinyl LPs or singles sell for.

Buy It Nows don’t allow each collector access to every copy, and they don’t allow any collectors to choose which number copy they want. The starting price for all the records on obscure identities are very low. The final price of the records on obscure Identities is determined by the collector.
These records are all 100 press, and all the sleeves are hand made and assembled. The records are collectable, diy, and the music is amazing. There are no other labels releasing 100 press diy records so there is really no vinyl singles or LPs to compare my releases to currently in terms of price.

Some other labels trade with each other, and have their own shops online. For someone in my neck of the woods, this ‘busines model’ (sic) has its benefits: I can buy a lot of records at once, saving postage. I can buy the records when I have time, without having to stay up late and follow an auction. I find the records at fixed prices and don’t have to put in an offer and risk being overbid.

You can buy a lot of records on obscure identities at once and save postage. Almost everyone that buys obscure identities records buys 3 or 4 at a time. You can bid on an auction whenever you want 24 hours a day 7 days a week for 80 weeks. Your suggestion of having to stay up late is a bit ridiculous. If you are outbid then someone wanted the record more than you did. You have 80 chances to get the record, and 80 weeks.

There’s nothing in this to say you can’t do business in whichever way you choose, I just wanted to clarify what I felt were misunderstandings. Peace out.

I obviously choose to do business the way I am currently.
If a person wants a record I release they will buy it.

I look forward to your puchases Oystein, because I’m sure you want the records on my label. You wouldn’t be posting unless you cared to get them, and considering you outbid me on a $1000 record I think you’ll be able to afford them.

Stephen
obscure identities

p.s. I think it is very sleezy of all the people who tried to use the All the Madmen band members to get copies of their record. If you want the All the Madmen record then you should want to support the record label that made it, and be an honest person and pay for it. I feel that anyone that contacted the band to try to get copies not only victimized the band members, but also betrayed their own appreciation of the record. If you want the record then buy it. Don’t try to cheat the band members and use them. The people I’m talking to know who they are.